Disney+ has landed the new career-spanning documentary The Beach Boys and will release the project for streaming on May 24. It was directed by the tandem of Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny, who have individually worked on acclaimed documentaries about Paul McCartney, the Bee Gees, Bruce Springsteen and James Taylor and Carole King.
Said to trace “the band from humble family beginnings,” the film will feature “never-before-seen footage and all-new interviews” with group members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnston, plus admirers such as Lindsey Buckingham, Janelle Monáe, Ryan Tedder and Don Was and band contributors such as Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar. Late members Carl and Dennis Wilson will be represented “in their own words,” per the announcement.
The Beach Boys was written by Mark Monroe and produced by Marshall, Irving Azoff, Nicholas Ferrall, Jeanne Elfant Festa and Aly Parker. Monroe, Zimny, Nigel Sinclair, Tony Rosenthal, Cassidy Hartmann, Glen Zipper, Beth Collins, Jimmy Edwards, Susan Genco, Marc Cimino, Jody Gerson, Bruce Resnikoff and Ben J. Murphy executive-produced. It’s the first official documentary about the Beach Boys since 1988’s Endless Summer, although the group’s history has been covered in several subsequent films about Brian Wilson, most recently 2021’s Long Promised Road.
In light of recent news about Brian Wilson’s declining neurocognitive condition, his interview in The Beach Boys may wind up being his last on camera. The legendary musician, who turns 82 in June, hasn’t toured since 2022. The current iteration of the Beach Boys remains led by Love and Johnston and has an extensive touring schedule on the books this year, including appearances next month at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the country-leaning Stagecoach on the Coachella grounds.
A soundtrack for The Beach Boys will be released digitally on May 24, while the Beach Boys’ 1964 album Shut Down, Vol. 2 will reappear on blue and white marble vinyl editions on March 29. The group’s first official book, The Beach Boys by the Beach Boys, hits stores April 2 from Genesis Publications.